Our Cypress Wells Canyon hike follows a trail through a canyon into a bowl-like valley in which there are several abandoned villages. The hike continues up to a ridgeline where there’s a stretch of broken-down Great Wall to look at. Click through to see photos of hills and cliffs, Great Wall, and hikers.

We did our Changyucheng ‘Long Valley City’ hike on a beautiful autumn day with warm sun and blue skies. Click through to see photos of the village, farm animals, the old city walls, and murals from the village temple.

On this weekday visit to Dragon Spring Valley, we saw some great scenery – Great Wall, hills, valleys, and autumn colours – and we took a short boat ride as well!. Click through to see photos!

In October 2012 we made a trip to Gansu Province to see the fortress at Jiayuguan, and the spectacular scenery of the Zhangye Danxia Landform. Click through to see photos!

During the big October holiday we completed another Journey from the West, travelling along the Silk Road from Urumqi and passing through Turpan, Hami, and Dunhuang on the way to the big fortress at Jiayuguan. Click through to see photos!

On the last day of the big October holiday we went all the way out to Changping District for the relatively relaxing Longevity Village to Lily Village hike. Click through to see photos!

We did a lot of hiking during the big October holiday, and enjoyed excellent weather. Click through to see some photos from our Great Wall Spur hike!

Out in the far west of Beijing is the Zhenbiancheng Great Wall, a stretch of unrestored Ming Dynasty-era wall. We saw a lot of beautiful autumn colours on this visit – click through to see the photos.